New Lappy

After more than a year of contemplating, I finally decided to get myself a new laptop today albeit for a different reason. Last year, I only intend to buy a low-cost one to use for blogging but now it's more because I'll be needing it for work. I don't know how long I'll be working from home due to this pandemic and my company hinted that WFH will be a permanent fixture for employees. This means that my current laptop, a hand-me-down from my brother, might not cut it in the long run as the remote systems I'm using kept updating to a newer version.

Accompanied by my brother and cousin, I went to the mall this afternoon with the intent to canvass for one. When we got there, we were surprised to see long lines at computer stores. The demand is perhaps because many are on telecommuting now, including students who will enroll this coming school year.  Stores only allow 3-5 people inside, as part of the social distancing measures by the mall. Canvassing became out of the question as we cannot wait in line for hours just to check laptop brands on each store.

My cousin said I shouldn't put the buying off for another time when we noticed that everyone is actually there to get one, and the stocks are running out fast.

Dummies

Yesterday, my newsfeed had gone bonkers with friends reporting of having dummy account(s) on Facebook. Unless you are aware of your multiple accounts because you use it to stalk your exes, this is a cause for concern as it only worsens the fear of identity theft or targeted attacks. Most impostor accounts are of UP students and others who had been, in one way or another, critical of the government.

This came the same time as the swift passing of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 by the House and the Senate (President Duterte is expected to sign it just as quickly), which is viewed by most people as a violation of liberty rights. If passed into law, an individual can be apprehended without a warrant and be detained for weeks prior to an appearance before a judge. This poses a threat because even a simple public post of aversion against the government may be viewed as inciting others.

It’s good that I didn’t have any impostor accounts out there, at least one that shows the same name I use on my Facebook account. See, I use my nickname instead of my real name.

I did check under my given name and found a couple of accounts, but I cannot tell for sure if these accounts were impersonating me because I have a lot of namesakes. If I see an account name exactly how it appears on my Facebook account, then that’s a different story `coz that could only be me.

And because I didn’t have any, I joked that maybe I wasn’t that relevant.

Because I'm super duper fun

I have been on WFH for almost ten weeks now and sometimes I’m still stumped as to why I am way more whacked now by the end of the day compared to when I was going to work on a daily basis pre-quarantine.

Then I had an epiphany: TWO SUGAR-FUELED BOYS vs. FORTYSOMETHING TITA.

See, being around two hyperactive boys (and sometimes having to babysit) is just one of the many challenges of telecommuting. My makeshift workstation at home is in a common area and it can get so noisy that it’s hard to hear over all the hooting and hollering. In the middle of me doing my tasks, the little one would poke me to show me the games on his cellphone and he can be pretty demanding for my attention. The older one, on the other hand, is almost always the mastermind of the ruckus, teaching his younger brother all the little mischiefs. In between, expect a lot of crying, fighting, running, thumping, and breaking.

Even if there are times I’d lose my cool at them when they become too much to handle, I’m sure about one thing: My two nephews are happy that I am home and they’ll miss me so much when I go back to the office.

That is because I let them be kids.